Floating
by Jessiy Landroz
Summary: Just focus, don't use your brawn, use your brain... [OneShot]


Floating.

Drifting with the current.

Is this what my mind was meant to be? Empty?

All I see is blue; blue sky atop of me, before my eyes, filling the scene around me, not a cloud in sight; blue water below me, the currents softly shifting and moving in my ears, lulling me with the gentle waves, pulling me away.

I close my eyes for a brief moment, and all I hear is the current.

I open my eyes again and the sky is still there.

I inhale slowly, and I smell nothing.

I'm not at a beach, not at a river, not in a sewer, nothing at all tells me of where I am.

I don't know where I am.

Why do I feel so relax? In a place this quiet and peaceful, I ought to at least worry as to why I'm here, right? I could be in the middle of an ocean and would sink into the bottomless depths any second now, right?

Then aren't I panicking?

'_Because panicking could very well be the wrong reaction, you see._' I recall him saying, '_A true warrior is always alert, and always keeps his feelings and actions on guard! He not allows a flinch or twitch or falter of either body or mind to pass, for it very well could easily mean his very death if taken noticed by a foe in deadly combat._'

Yes, I remember.

I close my eyes again, and I not even feel panicked.

The scene before me remains, unmoving.

The sky within my sight and the water dancing below my body, my arms and leg outstretched as the calm waters carry my motionless body away, towards no exact destination. The wind now softly blows against my skin as the currents stream gentle below my floating mass of a body, carefully and ever so slowly drifting, riding with the stream.

I inhale again, yet this time, I catch the salty scent, and I smile.

'_The ocean…_'

I open my eyes, and now I see them, the clouds now slowly coming into view, white and fluffy like cotton candy, or maybe even snow on the first day of winter. The white fluffy objects lazily soar in the sky and as weightless as they are, cast their shadows down below. As the shadow cast on me, I feel a slight shiver, as the cool breeze swept by, tickling my skin.

My body sank, and I opened my eyes, watching the bubbles sky above me, racing hurriedly towards the surface to rejoin with the air.

I don't panic, not at all, I feel even more at ease.

'_It begins._' He informs me, and I simply nod in response.

The currents slightly and weakly twisting and turning now, like murmuring voice, talking to me, trying to connect, to communicate, and all I do is stare at the surface, furthering from my vision, blurry away and disappearing. I'm eyeing the rays of sunshine, as they elegantly create rainbow like colors squiggling about a little below the surface of the water, dancing and shifting.

My bubbles keep soaring, less and less escape my mouth, but I don't panic, I feel light and very relaxed, and I close my eyes once more, my smile stretching, widening, and the murmuring of water thickens, it feels- overwhelming, in a strange warming way, I cant really put it in words, but it almost sounds like people I know, you know?

They're talking to me, couching me, guiding me, yet I can't discern their words.

The water warms up, if only a noticeable bit, and I feel the heat slowly tickling my skin, like hands, gentle tracing my skin, like fingertips sliding down my arms, and then they stopped as soon as they started, and the murmuring begins to fade.

I furrowed, it didn't sound right.

My smile wilted slowly and my furrow tightened, the silence deepened as the sound of the currents died in my ears, and I heard nothing but silence, it was very uncomfortable.

'_It comes._' he warned.

I tightened my fists and readied myself mentally, for there is one thing I'm sure of, no amount of brawn will ever be enough to deal with whatever it is I need to fight my way against.

I hear it, loud and clear.

Deep within the darkness, in the deepest depths of the- well, whatever or where ever this place is, I open my eyes as my feet finally land on the solid floor. I inhale slowly, rhythm my breath, collecting my thoughts, ignoring the bubbles as they keep escaping my lips, bubbling and racing hurriedly away, reaching quickly for the far-away surface.

At first, it comes slowly, but the weight is dense and it almost squeezes the remaining breath out of me! It suffocates me and I feel drained! I gasp and my eyes widen, but soon I grit my teeth and force my mind to focus, to fight it. So far, no luck, and the weight keeps pressing itself over me, squeezing me like a lemon, shoving me down a little hole that doesn't even fit someone with my bulk and size!

I try to fight it, I really do! I flexed my hands and tried to make a little space to breathe in, but nothing but bubbles erupt from my mouth, and I struggle in the tight noose-like grip around my neck.

I almost panicked, fearing that I would drown and lose to this invisible beast, but the murmuring of water that trickled momentarily into the back of my mind was enough to pull me back to where I was.

The murmuring didn't last too long, just a few seconds, yet it was enough to boost my confidence.

I focused and tried to push my foe away, and to my surprise, I felt the change, as the pressure around my body and the weight were wavering, almost like pushing a really heavy blanket off a very sleepy body, you know?

In a slight moment of distraction, the weight almost came pummeling down, crushing me in the process, and I fumbled, trying to push it back off, but it was harder the more I tried, and I realized that was because I was trying to use my arms and muscles while pushing, and it was harder cause there was just too much going around, it was distracting me!

I couldn't focus, for the invisible tentacles were circling around my legs, my middle and my arms, but not yet gaining weight enough around my throat, because I fought my way the best I could, but my focus was still faltering between my brain and my brawn.

It's hard, because all my life, I never needed to use my brain, you know?

Yeah, I'm not stupid, I can _so_ think for myself, thank you very much! But that's not my point! My point is that I never really _needed_ to use my head in anything, aside slamming my skull against the head of a thug, knocking him out cold. I always go for the physical approach, it's easier and quicker, but right now, it proves to be nothing but a hindrance and a distraction.

'_Use your head, stupid!_' I hear him shout, and that annoys me.

I grit my teeth and tried to focus.

I so wanted to say '_I'm trying!_' or something, but I knew I was in no condition to do that, because I know that, as much as I seriously wanted to ditch my current foe and go after him, to pummel him into paste, I knew it weren't possible, and the only way to get back to him was to finish this dish by clearing out my opponent, then only then would I be able to go get that numbskull and give him a well deserved beating!

'_Focus!_' I heard him say, and their voices were beginning to deafen my ears.

As soon as they came, the thickness and weight infested, they were killing me!

I fought with my muscles again, and I failed to keep the weight off my chest, squeezing my lungs; it was so hard to focus my mind when my muscles keep doing all the work! Just how does that brainiac do it?

Besides, thinking was never one of my good points, I always jump first into battle and not even bother thinking about what would come after, simply because I live for the moment.

The weight was thickening even more, it forced me to collapse on the floor, half wresting with my muscles, half gasping for a breath, and still trying to keep my focus off my brawn and on my brain, but no matter how hard I tried to fight it, it was still slowly and steadily draining me out my power, weakening me and quite clearly, I was losing!

'_Do you wish to stop?_' his voice asked, soft with a hint of worry, '_Perhaps I was hasty to assume that you could- ?_'

"No!" I barked, but before I could carry out my complaint, everything shattered.

"I am sorry, but you were in no condition to keep at it." He apologized, his cane slightly making a scrapping sound on the cold, hard floor, "We will try it again at another time, when you are ready, and when there aren't as so many distractions." He said in a warning tone.

I sighed heavily, my now free body slumped tiredly and lifelessly on the cold, hard floor in sheer exhaustion, so I placed my arm over my eyes protecting my currently sensitive sight. With a heavy sigh, now fluttering my weary eyelids repeatedly, for the florescent light atop of me was a bit blinding, in a disturbing kind of way, as it replaced the brilliant blue sky, fluffy white clouds and pleasant breeze, while the bubbling water and soft murmuring of currents was replaced with the loud humming of the air conditioner.

"Well, dude, at least you tried." He lingered over me, with the tails of his orange mask tickling the tip of my nose.

"Yeah, better luck next time." the blue masked other said, shrugging nonchalant.

"Easy for you to say." I growled, ignoring the green faces lingering over my head.

"Ya get used to it." He grinned and grabbed my hand, pulling me off the floor.

Sitting upright, suddenly I felt very lightheaded and dizzied, so I sat cross legged, Indian style, and waited until the blood started rushing back into my cold, numbing, throbbing brain. I rubbed the back of my neck and sighed, feeling the beaten old carpet under my fingers. Now I fluttered my eyes a little more, getting used to the bright light, I already started missing the floating feeling.

"How do ya guys do it and still make it look so dang easy? I was literally dying back there?" I questioned.

He grinned, "Been there, done that." he tilted his head.

He got smacked backside the head, "Oh shut up, Mike! Ya lost the first time, too!"

Mikey groaned and glared, "Well look who's talking! Mister I-lost-twelve-times-in-a-row!"

I grinned, and watched old orange bolt off screaming like a girl.

"Raph! Don't break anything, okay?" Leo groaned, warning.

"And yes, that includes killing him." Don added.

"Shut up! You were just dumb-lucky you got it the third time!" Raph snapped back and chased Mike.

"Yeah! Who would have thought you'd pass on your thirteenth try?" Mike chuckled, then screams and ran off again.

I laughed, watching Raph tail after Mike, who was still screaming like a girl again, with Raph still showing his usual threatening scowl and those teeth, Leo sighed inwardly, grumbling how he's cursed, while Donny smiled in mirth.

Don looked my way, "Are you going to be okay, Casey?" he asked in slight concern, "I mean, Usually when master Splinter puts us in that test, we all grow kind of shaky." He explained, "It just takes a little to get over the shock, I guess." He added.

I shrugged a shoulder, "I'll manage, but I have to say, that that was quite the experience." I chuckled sheepishly, the sensation of floating was still there, "I mean, at first I was like- wow! Words fail me! It was overwhelming, you know?"

He smiled, "Yeah, I know what you mean." He got up, "Need a hand?" he offered.

"Nah, I'm fine." I waved a hand at him.

He shrugged and shoulder and then walked away, heading towards his lab, or workbench, or whatever. I smiled a bit and watched as Don walked away, while Raph pinned Mike to the floor in a deadly headlock, poor Mike was echoing '_Ow_ _ow OW!_' repeatedly, in a whiny, childish voice. Raph was growling angrily, grinning evilly and threatening him and stuff.

That's when Leo sighed, now scooting from his spot and a little closer to me, "How do you feel?"

I eyed him and inhaled, "A bit drained, but I'll live."

He nodded, paused and then settled down next to me, "You, uh, did pretty good back there."

I don't know what I was feeling, but whatever it was, if felt good, "Thanks, I still feel funny, though."

Leo smiled, "It happens to the best, I failed my first time, too; if it makes you feel better." He smiled a bit coyly.

Somehow, it did, but I didn't comment.

I inhaled slowly, allowing the air to enter my lungs and expand the uncomfortable tightness I felt there, and then allowed the tingling, drained sensation to leave my shaky arms and legs, while Leo just scooted away and up, simply because Raph was choking and beating Mike with a cushion, and Leo didn't want to be one brother less.

Master Splinter said that that test was to help me focus, to clear out any irrational thoughts when I get into a rage fit, and I know I seriously needed that, especially right now, because ever since I met April, I felt that I'd better be a better man if I want to get her attention.

Love's tough, but being a better man would be better for both of us.

Well, anyway, the harder I work the better ill get, right?

Ah heck, work can wait! Cause Raph and Mike just pulled Leo in their little pillow fight, and I know better than to pass a good wrestle! So with my slightly shaky legs, I grin and hurry towards them and join the fun.

What's the hurry for? No need to hurry, I have my whole life a head of me.

And what better way to pass it than to have fun!

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A/N: lame ending, I know, sorry, but I was running out of ideas and I didn't know how to end the thing.


End file.
